BOSTON — The Celtics are dealing with a pretty limited list of options heading into the trade deadline option next month. The team is stuck in the second apron, making any type of trade challenging to pull off with the restrictions involved. Throw in the luxury tax concerns for a team deep into the tax already and it’s fair to guess the front office is looking at a list of players making the veteran’s minimum.
Barring some sort of upset where the team elects to move a rotation player, the Celtics will need to think small when adding to the roster. However, it’s evident that some tweaking is probably a good idea in the next few weeks. Boston is 9-7 over their last 16 games and look hardly like the runaway contenders we saw last year. Injuries have been a factor but the team isn’t showing any real growth this month as they’ve gotten healthier.
One area worth monitoring is the backcourt and wing position off the bench. Sam Hauser (nine minutes) has taken a step back from last season amid back issues. Payton Pritchard has fallen back to earth. Jordan Walsh has shown flashes defensively but still isn’t hitting open 3s (25 percent from deep). Baylor Scheierman isn’t ready to contribute just yet. Jaden Springer has been buried all year. Outside of some surprise contributions from two-way forward Drew Peterson earlier this year, the cupboard has been pretty bare on that front.
Those realities made a guy like Pelicans guard Javonte Green look like an intriguing fit for Boston on Sunday night. Boston traded him away in February 2021 in a trade deadline salary dump to get under the luxury tax. Green has shown surprise staying power in the NBA since then with solid on-ball defense and a respectable 3-point shot that has come a long way since his time in Boston.
The 31-year-old has played a surprisingly big role in New Orleans this year amid injuries, averaging 21.3 minutes per game. He played well Sunday night in a reserve role, scoring 10 points with three rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes including an impressive swipe of Jayson Tatum before halftime that led to an easy dunk.
The Pelicans are going nowhere with this 8-32 squad, making Green a very expendable piece on an expiring deal for a team with a bloated payroll. A second-round pick or two would be certain to get the job done and Green could provide some valuable defensive depth at the back end of the bench. He wouldn’t play when the Celtics are healthy but on nights when Boston is down a guard or two, Green looks like a far more appealing fill-in option than Boston’s young depth.
Unlike Jaden Springer, Green can also hit an open 3 (35.8 percent from beyond the arc), making him a solid option to provide some athleticism and ball pressure that Boston was hoping they would get out of Springer.
Ultimately, there are going to be very limited numbers of sellers at this trade deadline, given how tight the Western Conference standings are. Finding financial fits for Boston’s roster won’t be easy but Green checks that box. He’s far from the perfect player but as Brad Stevens attempts to fortify the 15-man roster for the long haul after this uneven stretch, Green is someone who can upgrade the end of the bench.
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